


In The Ring

by sowish



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 22:04:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6772012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sowish/pseuds/sowish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the prompt: “Camila is a professional boxer and Lauren says she doesn’t believe in violence but is forced to go to one of Camila’s fights… they somehow cross paths and Camila is determined to prove Lauren that boxing isn’t bad and Lauren doesn’t want to like Camila bc of what she does.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Ring

Lauren doesn’t believe in violence. She also thinks that boxing is equivalent to violence. Her best friend, Dinah, however, doesn’t.

 

So when the Polynesian drags her to the “boxing match of the century” between two notorious fighters, Lauren was unhappy to say the least. She just doesn’t understand the fascination to watch two people purposely hurt each other (the cost is also outrageous and downright ridiculous, Lauren thinks).

 

There, in the ring, stood a small Latina woman with her darker skinned opponent. They were sitting at their individual corners with their coaches hyping them up for the tough fight ahead.

 

“So, Lauser, the fight is between KCC and Mani K.”

 

“I know. It’s not like you were talking about it all week or anything, Dinah.”

 

“And for good reason! These are my two favorite fighters and I have no idea who to cheer on!”

 

“Just flip a coin or something.”

 

“Lauser! I can’t just flip a coin!”

 

Lauren rolls her eyes and the Polynesian woman is quick to smack her arm indignantly.

 

“Ow! See Dinah, these matches get you violent. You already hurt me enough as is. I still have a bruise from the last time you hit me.”

 

“Lauren, it was only because you were in the way between Queen Bey and I. She had a special on TV and you weren’t moving so I had to do something!”

 

“Didn’t mean you had to push me into the coffee table corner!”

 

“It was my queen’s documentary. That is enough reason to push you.”

 

“A documentary you’ve seen _many_ times before!”

 

Dinah’s mouth opens to retaliate but the sharp ringing of the bell signifies the start of the match. Dinah excitedly hits at her arms and turns all her attention to the ring. The boxers in the ring touch their gloves in sportsmanship and the air in the arena becomes tense with anticipation. The boxers side step and weave their way out of incoming punches and Lauren would be lying if she said she weren’t slightly intrigued. Whenever a punch would land, Lauren would perch herself even closer to the edge of her seat and when the final bell rung with a red glove raised in the air, Lauren could feel slight joy when her fighter claimed a rightful victory.

 

“Damn, what a fight! KCC pulled out all the stops. I’ve never seen her fight like that before. Mani K was always the expected winner only because she had been in the business a little longer than KCC. What’d you think of the fight, Laur?”  


“I will admit that I was really interested in it. It was really intense.”

 

“Do you believe that boxing isn’t violence yet?

 

“I don’t know, Dinah. Might need more convincing. We just watched two talented fighters beat each other up and I don’t like the little inkling of guilt I’m feeling right now.”

 

“Well, Lauser, I’ve got one more trick up my sleeve. Come on. I’ve got something to show you.”

 

Dinah grabs at her wrist and before Lauren knows it, she finds herself standing in front of a largely built man with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face.

 

“Dinah, how is this going to prove to me that boxing isn’t violence?”

 

“Just wait, Miss Impatient.”

 

Lauren hears a silky voice muffle behind the door and the man with the stern face opens it to reveal the darker boxer from the match.

 

Lauren can feel Dinah’s excitement when she runs to Mani K and hugs her as if she were a best friend.

 

With curiosity, she follows Dinah into the room and there she finds Mani K in all her post-match glory. Instead of bloody wounds, Lauren could see they were sutured and Mani K had wiped the sweat off from her body.

 

“Lauren, meet Mani K. Or Normani, seeing as she’s out of the ring.”

 

To say Lauren was confused would be an understatement.

 

“How did this happen, Dinah?”

 

“Queen Bey decided to bless me because the one day I force myself out for a jog, I ran into Normani and everything else is history.”

 

“I can’t believe you failed to mention you’re friends with a professional boxer.”

 

Dinah opens her mouth to speak but instead a grin graces her face and Lauren could feel a breeze as Dinah rushes by her with excitement.

 

“CheeChee! You did so well today! The way you moved and delivered those hooks, damn, even I could feel them.”

 

Coming from behind Dinah, a raspy giggle rings into the air and Lauren cannot believe that the winner from the match is a cute, doe-eyed woman with the most beautiful giggle. There stood KCC with a towel hung over shoulder with a charming smile painted on her face. From the distance between Lauren and her, the green-eyed woman observes the boxer with a newfound interest.

 

“Chancho, I want to introduce to you my friend Lauser. Even after tonight she still believes boxing is violence.”

 

The Latina approaches the green-eyed woman with her eyebrows quirked.

 

“So you’re the friend Chinita keeps rattling on about.”

 

Dinah calls out teasingly with a smirk on her face.

 

“Isn’t she cute, Mila?”

 

“Plenty. You really downplayed her beauty though, it’s tragic really.”

 

“Words wouldn’t be enough to capture Lauser’s beauty.”

 

The boxer seems to nod in agreement with Dinah and sends Lauren a crooked smile while sticking her hand out in greeting.

 

“I’m Camila. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

 

Lauren just nods and her grip on Camila’s hands feel weak and her voice comes out scratchy when she finds the words that were hiding from Camila’s wake.

 

“I’m Lauren. You played a great match.”

 

Camila flashes a charming smile and proudly sends Lauren her thanks. Then, she approaches Normani with a smirk.

 

“You thought wrong, Mani. I won this time.”

 

“Yeah. Camila: 1, Normani: 3. Don’t revel in your pride too much.”

 

Camila proceeds to pinch at Normani’s cheek and coos at her in a baby voice.

 

“Oh, Mani-bear it’s always a pleasure going against you. I get to see your face all focused and angry, I love it.”

 

Normani makes a move to choke Camila but her pearly whites and loving giggle contradict the threating action.

 

“You’re lucky I love you, Cabello. I would’ve kicked your ass by now.”

 

Camila’s cheery laugh echoes in the room and she looks back at Lauren with bright russet eyes and a crooked smile.

 

Lauren knows the familiar swirl in her stomach, knows the slight pick up in her heartbeat. Lauren knows she’s developing a crush on the Latina boxer. Lauren also knows she’s screwed. A part of her doesn’t like how Camila fights for a living but the other can’t help but find the beauty in the boxer.

 

But Lauren still believes boxing is violence.

 

~.~.~

 

When Camila texts Lauren that night, the woman with emerald eyes can’t help but smile at the contact name Camila had put for her name.

 

_**Camila aka KCC (** **ง •̀_•́)** **ง:** Still believe boxing is violence?_

_**Lauren:** Yes :)_

_**Camila aka KCC (** **ง •̀_•́)** **ง:** What can I do to prove to you that it’s not???_

_**Lauren:** I don’t know. Surprise me ;)._

_**Camila aka KCC (** **ง •̀_•́)** **ง:** Okay, how about this. I’ll pick you up and we’ll go to the gym I train at and I’ll show you that boxing isn’t violence. I’ll prove it to you._

_**Lauren:** And if I still believe boxing is violence??_

_**Camila aka KCC (** **ง •̀_•́)** **ง:** I’ll buy you dinner to compensate your time lost then :)_

_**Lauren:** I’ll be looking forward to it J. But I don’t think it’ll be time lost ;)_

_**Camila aka KCC (** **ง** **•̀_•́)** **ง** **:** So, Friday?_

__

_**Lauren:** Friday :)_

 

When Friday came, Lauren found herself anticipating the clock to strike four and when her doorbell rang, she almost ran to the door. Calming herself and tousling her hair, she opens it to find Camila standing at her doorstep with a bright smile on her face, jumping on the balls of her feet with excitement.

 

“Hello, Lauren. Are you ready for me to prove you wrong?”

 

Lauren can’t help but smile at her childish antics. The russet-eyed woman takes Lauren’s hand and leads her to the car parked in her driveway and opens the door for her with her hands jokingly gesturing her in as if she were royal. Once they reach a stoplight, Camila reaches for Lauren’s hand and kisses the top of it and glances at her with softness and sincerity in her russet eyes.

 

“You look beautiful, by the way. I don’t think I told you. I thought it when I saw you but I got carried away with the whole proving my point thing.”

 

Lauren tries to fight off the rush of blood to her cheeks and tries to fight the smile quirking at her lips.

 

Camila was the exact opposite in real life than she was in the ring. Despite Lauren’s prior judgment that Camila was destructive and violent, Lauren learns that Camila reveres life with a passion and intensity, learns that the boxer has the behavior and mind of a child, but the intelligence of a woman beyond her years. She wasn’t the relentless fighter in the ring, delivering attack after attack, competing for her win. She was caring and soft, looking out and protecting the people she loved with loyalty.

 

How could a woman as soft as Camila be so fiercely ruthless in the ring?

 

Lauren just figures she’s being judgmental and ignorant- not the best qualities she likes to define herself with.

 

~.~.~

 

As Camila and Lauren enter the lit gym, the ring stood proudly and brightly in the middle of it. The ring also had Normani resting comfortably against the corner post.

 

“Lauren, as you may know, Normani is one of my best opponents in the league. But if you could recall from when we met, Normani is also my best friend. She has helped me in many ways to be a better fighter, but has also helped me become a better person. She is my greatest friend and to prove to you that boxing isn’t violence, I’m going to fight her. It might sound ridiculous, but I promise there’s a point to it.”

 

As Camila slides into the ring and slips on her gloves, Normani approaches the ropes of the ring and squats down to speak to Lauren.

 

“Camila and I have always compared boxing to dancing. The way we move to avoid getting hit is just merely our way of dancing out of trouble. And when we move to hit our opponent, it is our way of dancing past their defenses and finishing the move with a desired hit. And to help prove our point, we’re going to have music play while we fight.”

 

Camila approaches Normani, her hair now tied up and shirt thrown aside.

 

(Lauren tries not to stare at Camila’s impeccable body or drop her chin to the floor. She finds it is near impossible.)

 

“We’re going to box to the beat of the music and maybe you’ll see that the way we move is calculated to rhythm of the song. Boxing isn’t a ruthless sport to us, it’s more of a dance.“

 

So as Normani and Camila warm up and approach each other with their firm stances, they touch gloves the way they did at the match and Lauren could see how they moved with precise steps and faked jabs to the melody. She saw how they bounced on the balls of their feet to the percussion of the song and weaved gracefully away from punches. She could see how they danced around each other or how they took short calculated steps in and jabbed at little openings in their stance. When a punch landed, she could not only see the impact, but also hear the intention of the action when the bass dropped to a stronger beat.

 

Lauren started to understand that maybe boxing wasn’t a violent sport, but rather a dance to their opponent’s song.

 

~.~.~

 

When a breathless Camila approaches Lauren with a slight bruise on her cheek and a swollen eye, she can’t help but worry. But when Normani approaches behind her with equal amounts of injury and pats Camila’s back with a smile, she knows every thing is okay.

 

“Still believe boxing is a sport?”

 

“Not entirely. I’m starting to understand that it’s more than just beating people up.”

 

Camila smiles proudly and takes Lauren’s hand in hers.

 

Despite Camila proving that boxing isn’t violence, she still takes Lauren out for dinner and pays for their meal. She still walks Lauren to her door and looks at her with stars in her eyes and a love-struck grin on her face.

 

Despite Lauren’s former hesitance to allow herself to fall for the boxer, she still kisses Camila with all the passion inside her with her heart in her throat and her blood flowing with adrenaline.

 

Despite just seeing Camila hours before she gets into bed, Lauren can’t help but miss her.

 

_**Lauren:** So you’ve proved me wrong AND took me out on a date. How did you do it, hotshot?_

_**Camila aka KCC (** **ง •̀_•́)** **ง:** It was a date?_

_**Lauren:** *dinner I meant_

_**Camila aka KCC (** **ง •̀_•́)** **ง:** Darn, I had really hoped it was._

_Lauren can feel her grin grow on her face and sleep pulling her eyelids shut._

_**Lauren:** Then it was. J_

_**Camila aka KCC (** **ง •̀_•́)** **ง:** J Goodnight, Lo. Sleep well._

 

~.~.~

 

When Lauren goes to work the next day, no one misses the smile on her face or the sudden change in her demeanor.

 

Dinah lightly elbows her and quirks her eyebrows suggestively at Lauren. Ally, her coworker and best friend, rests her elbows on her desk and places her chin on her hands. She speaks to Lauren with curiosity dripping from her tone of voice.

 

“What’s got you all smiley at ten in the morning today, Lo?

 

“Nothing. Can’t I just be happy?”

 

“Wow! I didn’t know Camila went by Nothing too!”

 

“Shut up, Dinah! How’d you know?”

 

“You forget that I’m friends with her, Lauser. She told me all about it. I never knew it was possible to _hear_ heart eyes through the phone. KCC’s got it bad for our little grouchy teddy bear, Smalls.”

 

Lauren smacks Dinah’s arm with a small smile edging at her lips.

 

“Look who’s all violent now, oh how the table’s have turned. Mila’s rubbing off on her, Ally. Next thing you know, Lauser’s gonna be the one fighting in the ring.”

 

Lauren smacks her once again, but now, a full-blown smile shines from her lips.

 

~.~.~

 

When Lauren sees Camila later on the day with Normani by her side, she swears the day just got better. After Camila orders a vanilla latte at the register and moves to wait at the side, Lauren hears Dinah quietly snicker at her when she moves to makes the Latina boxer’s drink.

 

“Guess she likes vanilla things, huh Laur, you pale, vanilla lookin’ Latina.”

 

Dinah’s lost count on how many times Lauren’s slapped her arms for teasing her about Camila. She finds that it’s worth it because Lauren has the cute little smile on her lips.

 

Dinah can basically see the heart eyes Lauren has for Camila when the boxer comes for her drink with a smile on her face. Then she sees Lauren cover her mouth to hide a grin as Camila fails to coolly lean on the wall, undoubtedly to impress her, but instead misses the wall and leans into mid air, almost falling over and knocking down the bottle of creamer on the table beside her. Camila brushes off the imaginary dust off her green bomber jacket and claims her drink with pink cheeks and an embarrassed smile on her lips.

 

When Camila walks past the register, Dinah gets a glimpse of the sleeve and swears Lauren has modified the “i” in Camila’s name with a dotted heart and a smiley face at the end of it.

 

It’s disgustingly cute as Lauren turns her back from the café to giggle into her palms and moves to make eye contact with Camila as she walks to a table in Lauren’s peripheral eyesight.

 

Camila might be the clumsiest person in the world because she runs into the chair in front of her and almost spills the drink on herself. But Dinah decides to give the benefit of the doubt to the boxer and blames that one on Lauren because Camila just simply can’t stop looking at Lauren with hearts in her eyes.

 

~.~.~

 

Dinah finds another benefit from the plethora of others of having your best friend date your other best friend who just happens to be a professional boxer.

 

Camila scores her front row seats to a match against a new and threatening opponent. But before the brawl, they were in Camila’s room, waiting and encouraging her with Normani, fueling the Latina boxer up with adrenaline. When Dinah and Normani leave to their seats, Lauren comes a little later with a smirk on her lips.

 

Dinah figures Lauren was doing more than just amping Camila up for the match because when Lauren moves to fix her hair, the Polynesian sees a glimpse of a small hickey on the column of her neck.

 

When the match starts, KCC and her opponent touch gloves and all hell unleashes. Dinah, Normani, and Lauren sit up on their seats and cheer their fighter on.

 

When the bell rings to signify a new round, a new song starts in Lauren’s head and she watches her girlfriend dance her way around her opponent and land strategic jabs and hooks to her opponent, finishing off a stunning combo with a strong upper cut to the opponent’s chin.

 

When the match ends with Camila’s red gloves in the air, Lauren sees “LMJ” written in sharpie on the Everlast logo. Lauren faintly hears Camila whispering in her ear before the match with love in her eyes.

 

“My beautiful good luck charm, this one’s for you. I’m gonna dance for you.”

 

~.~.~

 

Lauren still doesn’t believe in violence.

 

But she certainly doesn’t believe boxing is violence.

 

Lauren didn’t believe in love at first sight, but now, she’s starting to believe it because when Camila holds her in her arms and kisses her gently with all the passion inside her, she feels the familiar flutter in her stomach, feels her heart race behind her chest and beat against her ribs just like it did when she first met the russet eyed boxer.

 

Lauren was just too blind to know that.

 

~.~.~

 

Red gloves with a faded “LMJ” on its logo hangs from the wall and whenever the emerald-eyed woman stops to really looks at it, she finds herself ten years into the past at the age of twenty-one. Now, at the age of thirty-one with a tan on her left hand ring finger, she finds her newborn baby girl resting on Camila’s chest, sleeping peacefully.

 

In the span of those ten years, Camila and Lauren had built their relationship up, experiencing cracks on their way but paving over it with cement. As Camila was edging the age of thirty, she decided to retire from fighting but instead coach children with aspirations to box. They had been happily married for four years with a newborn baby.

 

They couldn’t be happier, their relationship never stronger. The sparks that were there before, the flutters and swirls in her stomach, were still ever present. Whenever Camila softly paints her body with love on her lips and gently trails the contours and dips of her body, Lauren knows she’s lucky.

 

She pulls out her phone to text Dinah.

 

_**Lauren:** Thank you_

_**Dinah:** What for, Lauser?_

_**Lauren:** Everything. You’ve introduced me to the love of my life, my future. And I’ve never thanked you._

_**Dinah:** You’ve been looking at Mila’s gloves and reminiscing again?_

_**Lauren:** Maybe…_

_**Dinah:** You cheesy sap. Of course you were._

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this awhile ago and im just transferring all my works from 5hff to here. I hope yall liked it!!


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